Non-Governmental Organizations

Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs), are groups which work independently of government or business, and are commonly referred to as NGOs or Third Sector Organizations. They are often also non-profit groups. NGOs can include community organisations, advocacy groups, environmental organisations, watchdog organizations or think tanks. The United States alone has over 2 million NGOS. 

The National Environmental Directory is a searchable a directory of more than 13,000 organizations in the United States concerned with environmental issues and environmental education. Organizations can add or update their own listings.

International Examples

 * Americares
 * Greenpeace International
 * Reporters Without Borders
 * WWF International

North American Examples

 * Alliance for Democracy in Iran
 * American Cancer Society
 * American Diabetes Association
 * Desert Springs Action Committee
 * Earth First!
 * EnviroLink Network
 * Environmental Defense
 * Friends of the Earth USA
 * Global Exchange
 * Gray Panthers
 * Hispanic Council for Reform and Education Options
 * Human Rights Watch
 * International Republican Institute
 * National Organization of African-Americans in Housing
 * Natural Resources Defense Council
 * Rainforest Action Network
 * Safari Club International
 * Sierra Club
 * Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti

Australian Examples

 * Australian Conservation Foundation
 * Friends of the Earth Australia
 * Greenpeace Australia-Pacific
 * Queensland Conservation Council
 * The Wilderness Society
 * WWF Australia

Other SourceWatch Resources

 * War on NGOs
 * Foundation support for nonprofit organizations
 * front groups
 * industry-funded organizations
 * NGOWatch.org
 * think tanks
 * watchdog organizations
 * environmental organizations
 * list of progressive organizations
 * list of regressive organizations
 * World Social Forum

External Resources

 * Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) "Voluntary Aid for Development: The Role of NGOs", OECD: Paris, 1988.
 * Jonathan Cohen, Governance by and of NGOs, AccountAbility.
 * Michael Edwards and David Hulme (eds.) Beyond the Magic Bullet? NGO Performance and Accountability in the Post-Cold War World (Kumarian Press, 1996).
 * James Petras, ”Imperialism and NGOs in Latin America”, Monthly Review, December 1997.
 * James Petras, ”NGOs: In the Service of Imperialism," Journal of Contemporary Asia, 29(4), 1999.
 * Kamat, Sangeeta. “Development hegemony: NGOs and The State in India”, Delhi, New York; Oxford University Press, 2002.
 * Aziz Choudry, "All This "civil Society" Talk Takes Us Nowhere", Znet, January 9, 2002.
 * Christopher Deliso, "How to Take Down a Government, Part One: The International Campaign to Intervene in Macedonia's Elections", Antiwar.com, August 26, 2002.
 * Christopher Deliso, "How to Take Down a Government, Part Two: Financial Coercion and Other Forms of Intervention", Antiwar.com, August 27, 2002.
 * Sangeeta Kamat, Development Hegemony: NGOs and the State in India (Oxford University Press, 2002).
 * Christopher Deliso, "How to Take Down a Government, Part Three: Collaboration Between the Media and NGOs", Antiwar.com, August 28, 2002.
 * Christopher Deliso, "How to Take Down a Government, Part Four: Inside the ICG’s Corruption Report", Antiwar.com, August 29, 2002.
 * Firoze Manji and Carl O’Coill, “The Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa,” International Affairs, 78 (3), 2002.
 * Sam Vaknin, "NGOs - The Self-Appointed Altruists", Eco-Imperialism.com, Written October 2002. (Published March 2005)
 * Dorthea Hilhorst, "The Real World of NGOs: Discourses, Diversity and Development", Zed Books, 2003.
 * Annon, ”Just how independent are the NGOs?”, The Spark, 12 November 2003.
 * Michel Chossudovsky, "Building Meaningful Mass Movement", Leftgatekeepers, 2004.
 * Arundhati Roy, "Help that hinders", Monde diplomatique, November 2004.
 * Abdelrahman, Maha, ”Civil Society Exposed: The Politics of NGOs in Egypt”, The American University in Cairo Press, 2004.
 * Maha M. Abdelrahman, Civil society exposed: the politics of NGOs in Egypt (Tauris Academic Studies, 2004).
 * Ji Giles Ungpakorn, "NGOs: enemies or allies?", International Socialism Journal, Issue 104, Winter 2004.
 * Andrea del Moral, "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded", LipService, April 4, 2005.
 * Patrick Bond, "Are mainstream NGOs failing Africa?", Zmag, June 21, 2005.
 * Ask Before You Give!, New Internationalist, October 2005.
 * Eric Tang, "The Non-Profit & The Autonomous Grassroots", Left Turn Magazine, October 2005.
 * Richard Seymour, "Against philanthropy", Socialist Worker Online, August 19, 2006.
 * "A Bibliography on NGOs", The Global Development Research Center, Accessed November 2006.
 * Harri Englund, Prisoners of Freedom: Human Rights and the African Poor (University of California Press, 2006).
 * S.Goonatilake, Recolonisation: Foreign Funded NGO’s in Sri Lanka (Sage Publications, 2006).
 * Uda Olabarria Walker, "NGO's and Palestine", Left Turn Magazine, No Date.
 * "The Revolution Will Not be Funded", Left Turn Magazine, Issue # 18, November, 2006.
 * INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex", South End Press, 2007.
 * Shahrzad Mojab, "Women's NGOs Under Conditions of Occupation and War", Solidarity, Undated.
 * Curtis Muhammad, "A Farewell Letter on the Second Anniversary of Katrina: A Message from an Organizer to the Left and Progressive Forces inside the USA", People's Organizing Committee, August 31, 2007.
 * Yves Engler, "NGOs and Imperialism", Znet, September 02, 2007.
 * Georgianne Nienaber and Keith Harmon Snow, "S.O.S In Eastern Congo: Magic Sticks, Corrupton & Gorilla Warfare", Znet, September 18, 2007.
 * Michael Barker, "Capital-driven Civil Society", State of Nature, May 18, 2008.
 * Richard Sanders, "Agents of Regime Change", Press for Conversion!, Issue # 62, May 2008.
 * Francie, "A Critique of NGOism", Rebel Press, Issue 9, May 2008.
 * John Barker, Tyranny of the Ad Hoc", Variant Issue 34, Spring 2009.
 * Chris Irwin, "Someprofits vs. Nonprofits: When Nonprofit Groups Go Bad", Counterpunch, March 23, 2009.
 * Ashley Smith, "Haiti and the Aid Racket: How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation", Counterpunch, February 24, 2010.
 * Keane Bhatt, "Chomsky on Haiti: Aid Should Go to Haitian Popular Organizations, Not to Contractors or NGOs", Counterpunch, March 9, 2010.
 * George Ciccariello-Maher, "Oakland's Verdict: In the Oscar Grant Movement, Steel Sharpens Steel", Counterpunch, July 12, 2010.
 * Darwin Bond-Graham, "Co-opting the Anti-Nuclear Movement: Disarmament for Some", Counterpunch, July 22, 2010.
 * Scott Sanders, "Elite Control or Community Governance of Public Service Media: Which Will it Be?," Media-ocracy, July 23, 2010.